Demand for steel in the Saudi Arabia’s market has increased by 10 per cent. (Image source: Kenjisama/Flickr)Cristal will set up the first factory for titanium dioxide smelter metal at the Jazan Economic City in Saudi Arabia at a cost of US$146mn by next year

In its first stage the factory will produce 1.41mn cubic metres of titanium dioxide and 707,921 cubic metres of pure raw steel for local consumption.

Talal Al-Shaer, CEO of Cristal, said, “The factory will open next year, and it is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia.

“It will witness expansion in the future so as to increase its production capacity to 2.83mn cubic metres making it very competitive on the world level to provide for the international shortage in titanium dioxide and provide for the local market for the first time.”

Omar Al-Njjar, VP human resources at Cristal, stated that the company was working to develop Saudi Arabian cadres through experts and technical staff.

Demand for steel in the Saudi Arabia’s market has increased by 10 per cent and it is expected to continue as a result of government spending. Domestic demand is around 20mn cubic metres while local production is only 1.5mn cubic metres.

With the Kingdom’s infrastructural projects set at US$400bn, there has been a constant demand for the production capacity of energy, steel and cement to cater for the growth, Cristal said.